


The Fault, Dear Brutus...

by TheUnemployedPhilosopher



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-20 03:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/882464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnemployedPhilosopher/pseuds/TheUnemployedPhilosopher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet, they talk, they fall in love.<br/>Little did they know how easily outside forces can tear people apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was partially inspired by John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, but if you've read the book don't worry I'm not going to end it the same way as he did.  
> I also changed Castiel's name to Cassidy for reasons that will come into play later.

Even though he planned everything, including timing for a shower, brushing his teeth, and combing his hair, Cas was still late. This happened every Sunday, every morning when he wanted to be on time for morning service. 

He cursed his fingers as they fumbled over the last buttons on his dress shirt. 

He walked quickly into the kitchen, gulped down a cup of orange juice and ran out the door. 

The sun was obnoxiously bright that morning, causing shadows to be cast by the buildings surrounding Cassidy’s apartment. 

Cas liked to walk into the shadow’s and play a game each morning by seeing how long he can walk by avoiding the sun on the pavement. Not only did it keep him cool but also kept his mind busy. 

The Bus was late too, and he cursed that as well as it rolled up in front of him. 

He couldn’t tell if the driver was glaring at him or because the sun was now directly at eye level. 

Not waiting to find out, he found a seat near the back next to a pregnant woman wearing a hat. 

He smiled one of those socially acceptable smiles at her and she sent one back. It was only a fifteen minute trip to the nearest church, the one that Cas always visited on Sundays. 

He wouldn’t classify himself as religious or church going in the least; in fact, if he was asked, he would deny going to church at all. 

It was a habit, one instilled in him when he was little and going with his father and brothers, back when his father was still alive. He didn’t know anybody there or gave the effort to, it was a habit. That’s all it was and all it would ever be, and that’s what he told himself over and over again every morning on the ride to the church. It was a habit. 

~  
Dean’s hand was shakier that morning than usual as he reached for his cell phone on the side table and knocked over a lamp. 

“Fine, it was an ugly ass lamp anyway.” He mumbled into the crook of his elbow, giving up the effort to look at what time it was. 

Just as sleep started to take hold again, the sounds of AC/DC played from the phone he just rejected. 

“Hey Sammy,” He answered, knowing it was either Sam or Jo and that Jo would’ve had better sense than to call him that early. “I sent you it last Monday; it should’ve gotten there by then. I don’t know, are you sure you checked all the way in the back?” Dean tried to smooth the scruff on his face. “Okay, I’ll come over today, yeah as soon as I put on some pants.” 

He said a brief goodbye and threw the phone on a pile of clothes by his bed. 

Getting up was harder than he thought it would be, the night before was drowned in Jack Daniels and some pills he found in the bathroom cabinet. He found a pair of jeans that were thrown at the end of the bed, put them on and chose to forgo shaving for another day. 

Dean shielded his eyes from the morning sun and waited for the bus. The time on his wrist watch said ten after nine, he would have to wait ten minutes for it to pick him up. He sighed and ruffled his hair, he could already feel sweat at the dip in his back. 

Ten minutes came and went and the bus pulled up loudly in front of him. Dean walked down the aisle, trying to find a seat that didn’t have dried gum pieces on it, and chose one in the back next to a man dressed in business casual clothes. 

The man smiled subtly at him and Dean was thrown off, strangers that weren’t scantily clad women didn’t smile at him for no reason. He tried to smile back but the early morning and menacing hangover might have affected the good notion into more of a grimace. 

Dean regretted not shaving, or not finding clothes that weren’t wrinkled. His luck of finding nice looking men was next to nil thanks to working and helping his little brother through college. 

“Cassidy” the cordial man offered. His gruff voice caught Dean off guard, for some reason he was expecting a softer voice from someone dressed in those clothes. His blue eyes latched hold of Dean’s and the surprised man found it hard to answer. 

“Hi…” a few moments passed before Dean realized that’s all that he had said and the edges of Cas’s mouth turned up into a soft smile. “Um, Dean. I’m Dean.” He lifted his hand and they shook for maybe longer than what was socially acceptable. 

Cassidy’s hands were rough but nimble, Dean’s opinion of him changed with every detail he learned. 

“I’ve seen you take the bus before, you usually take that seat by the front.” He motioned to the left seat nearest the door, and Dean chuckled. 

“You’re observant.” 

“I’ve been told that before” Cas answered. “People have said that it’s annoying.” 

“Nah, it’s impressive.” 

Cas smiled again and fiddled with a loose string on his shirt. 

Silence broke up the easiness of their conversation when another passenger made their way to the center portion of the bus. Dean glanced over and saw the stranger staring out the window, watching the scenery, most of it was San Francisco’s office buildings and small Victorian houses, squished together like sardines yet somehow comfortable looking. 

“Your shoes are untied.” Cas’s gaze shifted from the window to the laces interwoven together, Dean blushed and bit his lip as he leaned over to tie them in a half-hearted knot. This was not his day. 

“Thanks” He said breathily, trying to smile and not look like the unkempt mess he constantly presented. Cas squinted at him and, as if there was a five second delay, laughed shyly.

“I’m sorry; I just didn’t want you to trip on the way out.” 

“Trust me, I appreciate the motion. I’m clumsy enough without my shoes being untied.”

“You don’t look clumsy.”

“I didn’t know that clumsy people looked any different.”

“Well, usually you can identify them by the way that they’re draped over the furniture they just tripped over. But don’t misunderstand me; I have a great sympathy for clumsy people.” Cas added, as if Dean would have thought that he was being insulting. 

He grinned back, feeling more amused than anything. 

“They need all the goodwill they can get.” He chuckled. 

The bus rolled to a stop and an elderly couple walked off hand in hand to a small park nearby. 

“So Dean, what do you do?” Cassidy asked. Dean licked his lips, thinking. “Wait no, let me guess” He smiled. “Your jeans aren’t dark washed so you’re not in construction, at least not a worker, maybe an engineer.” 

“Good job, Columbo.” Dean answered Cas’s observing looks.

“Did I get it right?” 

“No. But you’re close.” He grinned mischievously. 

Just as Cas was about to make another guess, the two men could feel the bus roll to a stop. Dean’s hands automatically clenched by his side as he saw Cas look around tensely. 

“Is this your stop?” 

“No, the next one.” 

Dean cleared his throat. “Hmm, well I guess that means you have around fifteen minutes.”  
The blue-eyed man pursed his lips and waited for an explanation. 

“To redeem your skills of observation.”

“Oh that,” Cassidy said with a smirk. “I’ve already figured out what you do.” He interlaced his fingers together on his lap and stared at them, working his digits as if exercising them. 

Dean sat entranced; trying to remember something that grasped him. He knew he saw those motions before, somewhere. 

“You play piano.” Dean said, pointing to Cas’s motions. The man nodded with a smile. 

“I started when I was twelve and never stopped. How’d you know?” 

“My brother plays, honestly he’s a genius at it!” Dean’s pride at his sibling couldn’t be more obvious. 

Sam’s talent was genuine, his career as a lawyer may have been more important but music was imperative to Sam’s practice of patience; which he commonly had to use during conversations with his stubborn older brother. The practice sessions were put on hold when Sam had to sell his old piano because of school loans, Dean promised he’d buy a better one when he was done with law school; one that didn’t wobble on one leg and have as many tuning issues. 

“Photographer” Cas’s voice was confident and interrupted Dean’s trailing mind. 

“What?” 

“Occupation: Photographer.” Cas revealed a coy smile that hinted at smugness, which might have looked annoying on anyone else’s face but his. “And you lied; you said that I was close. An engineer is nowhere near a photographer. ” 

“To be fair, you didn’t tell me how good you were at this observing thing you do.”

“So you were placating me?” Cassidy asked, a constant chuckle in his words. 

“Yes” Dean said without pause. The blatant admission of what Cas thought was a vice, made him laugh. The kind of laugh that makes you shake your head and wonder at how a man you just met that day on a bus could make you feel so lightheaded and infinite. 

“You’re cavalier, Dean.” 

“I like the sound of that.” 

“It was meant to be insulting.” Cassidy informed. 

“Yeah well the laughter kind of ruined your intentions.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean started to recognize homes and buildings that were near Sam’s apartment. The pharmacy that he picked up Sammy’s asthma medicine at, the coffee shop where they stopped at and talked about classes and Dean’s occasional placement in a low profile magazine. It was a nice place, much better than where Dean’s apartment was. He didn’t care because to be honest, he didn’t spend a lot of time there, choosing to babysit Sam’s dog from hell or walk around the city photographing than stay at home. 

“I guess I need to work on my insulting skills” Cas answered. 

“Yeah” 

Dean started to panic. The bus was getting increasingly closer to Sam’s place and he still didn’t have the number of the guy that made him feel like he was worth something, and feeling like that was a novelty to Dean. Then there was the issue of figuring out if Cassidy was actually gay, and that could be awkward if there wasn’t a getaway plan out of the conversation. 

“Do you live near here?” Dean felt like he blurted it out but Cassidy seemed unperturbed as he looked out the window at the flying scenes. 

“Yes, near the park.” 

“The one by the playground?” 

Cas nodded in answer. He looked up and Dean saw the bus driver’s hand reach for the break, they were finally at Cas’s stop. 

“This is your stop?” He asked disbelievingly. “Do you live at Sandlewood apartments?” 

Cassidy stared at Dean, puzzled. 

“How-“ He started to ask. 

“My brother lives there, near the park by the playground.” He smiled and breathed deeply. 

It seemed today was getting better by the second. 

. . .

Three people filed out with the two men, chattering among themselves and leaving in the direction of the lush park way. 

“Hey, do you want to come up for drink?” Dean asked. It may have been a bit forward but Fate had already given him this chance and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. 

“I just met you an hour ago; don’t you know the hazards of asking strange men into your sibling’s apartment Dean?”

Dean faked bewilderment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about; we’ve known each other for a long time. You know what my job is and that I have a brother, I know that you play piano since you were twelve and that you live at Sandlewood Apartments. What more could two people know about each other?”


	2. Chapter 2

Dean led Cassidy up to the second floor where Sam’s place was ad knocked on the door. As they waited for the answer, Dean looked around as if he could notice by some magical power which apartment was Cas’. 

“I’m not on this floor.” Cas noticed Dean’s motions and laughed at the eagerness. 

The door opened and Sam looked at Dean first then at Cassidy with a disoriented frown. 

“Hi…” He said slowly, trying to understand why Dean brought along a friend to help him find the check he lost. 

Dean smiled reassuringly.

“Sam, this is Cas. We met on the bus.” 

Instead of erasing the frown, Dean made his brother’s mouth drop. 

“Uh, Dean” Sam started until Dean pushed his way past the six foot four blockade into the kitchen area of his brother’s apartment. Cas stood there awkwardly with his hands in his pockets, waiting for Sam’s reaction.

“Oh right, uh come on in.” Sam smiled and motioned the man inside. “Sorry, it’s kind of a mess in here. I’m studying for finals and didn’t know I’d have company.” He sent Dean a glare. 

“I’m not company?” Dean whined, rummaging through Sam’s cabinets to find glasses. 

Sam shifted a pile of papers off of the couch and shoved a few law books onto a shelf.

“What you are isn’t acceptable to say in polite society.” 

Cas tried unsuccessfully to hide his snicker at Sam’s response.

Dean poured what looked like iced tea into the cups. “Don’t encourage him, it makes him try harder.” he said, earning a bitch face from his brother. 

Cas walked into the kitchen and took the cup Dean handed to him.

“This is a nice place, mine isn’t as big as this one.” 

“You live in the apartments?” Sam asked. 

“Yeah, on the lower level.”

Sam looked at Dean, “Well that’s a coincidence.” 

Dean cleared his throat, “so what is it that you do, Cassidy?” He took another sip of his tea and finding it not up to his standards, put it down quickly. He searched for something else in the cabinets and took out a bottle of whiskey, pouring a generous amount in the iced tea. 

“I’m an astrophysicist” He answered plainly, drinking his plain tea happily and taking a seat at the kitchen bar. Dean sat beside him at the other seat and Sam opted to lean against the back of the couch. 

“Wow, I’m impressed!” Sam smiled. 

Dean knew he didn’t have to wait long for an explanation from Sam, as he was always ready to give one. He raised his brows and his brother got the clue. 

“They use mathematical and physical theories to explain the workings of the universe.” 

“And we develop such theories too” Cassidy interjected. “We study galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, and their emissions across the electromagnetic spectrum.” 

“So you gaze at stars?” Dean said placidly. Sam shook his head. 

“I think there’s more that goes into it than that, Dean.” 

Cas smiled at them, “no, he’s pretty much got that part right.” Dean looked pleased with the answer as Sam let out a huff.

It was weird, the whole situation was, and yet everything about it seemed so easy. Sam seemed to like Cassidy and Cas looked like he was comfortable with them both. It was like they were ready to be a family, all of them willing, and all they needed was the time that everybody else had to catch up and tell them it was socially acceptable to act like family. 

After letting him drink the rest of his tea, Dean led Cassidy to a room with bookshelves that touched the ceiling, watching his face light up as he read the titles on them. He was transfixed on the subjects and topics of all them, and unaware of the look on Dean’s face. 

The look held such a special feeling that neither of them understood but somehow accepted already, it glinted with amusement at the day that was now behind them and the future meetings that were ahead. Cas reached for a book about the effects of physiological trauma in young adults and Dean chuckled. 

“Really? All of these comic books and you go for that?” he motioned to the four shelves that held a plethora of graphic novels and comics. 

“I didn’t see those,” he smiled. “I’m impressed Dean, I didn’t know you were such an avid reader.” 

Dean shuffled his feet, “well, most of these are Sammy’s, but I grab a good mystery when I want something to fall asleep to.” 

“I meant the comics” Cas said. He put the book back in its place and knelt down to the shelves holding the comics, examining a few before deciding that ‘One More Day’ was a good one to flip through. He sat cross-legged and looked intent on taking in every page. 

Dean would’ve been ticked off if it had been anybody else looking through his comic collection, hell, he even bit off Sammy’s head when he found him looking at them once. But he knew that Cas was the kind of guy that if he was looking that intense at something, he liked it. 

The man sat next to his guest and pulled out one of his favourite graphic novels, looking at the pages for what must have been the hundredth time. The scene was quiet, only the rustling of pages and occasional snicker of pleasure as Spider-Man released his fury on a bad guy. 

Dean stole a glance at Cassidy, who was still enraptured in his comic, the little lines of his eyes sometimes squinting and causing a pleasing effect on his face whenever there was something that caught his interest. His lips quirked up into a smile as the hero in the comic made a sarcastic quip, and then he bit them absent-mindedly, a habit that was obvious from them being so chapped. 

He didn’t realize how long he was staring at Cas’ lips until he looked up into blue eyes staring intensely back. Dean cleared his throat. 

“Did you like it?” He asked hoarsely. 

“Yes, it allowed an interesting twist to the entire Spider-Man universe that I didn’t expect.” He said seriously. 

Sam walked in and laughed, and to be fair, it was a funny scene to walk in on: Two grown men sitting cross-legged on the floor with a pile of comics among them. 

“What are you doing?” He asked, amused. 

“I was showing Cas the library.” 

“Right, well I found the check, you know, the one that you were supposed to come over and help me find. It was under a plate in the kitchen.” 

“Look at that, you are able to function on your own.” Dean answered with a smile. 

Sam pursed his lips, “anyway, thanks again for writing it.”

The older brother waved his hand at him in a dismissing way.

“Yeah, don’t mention it, and don’t lose it again.” He ordered to the retreating back of an irritated brother. 

Cassidy sat up and started arranging the comics back in the shelf where they were before, carefully so as not to wrinkle the edges. 

“I should get going” He said after a glance at his wristwatch. 

Dean tried to uncross his legs and help but without success. Apparently he wasn’t as limber as Cassidy; he made a few defeated grunts trying to get up before Cas held out his hand for Dean to use as leverage. 

“Thanks” He said as he was pulled up a little too fast and grabbed Cas’ arm for balance, still holding on to his hand. It was a little too close, their chests touching and arms holding on to each other. It wouldn’t have been that intimate if it wasn’t for the fact that Cas kept steady eye contact with Dean, the man could have had a stare off with a rock and would win. 

“I should get going” Cas said again. 

“I heard you the first time” Dean said softly, using all of his will power to not look at Cas’ lips again or breath in and smell his aftershave. It’s just that they were so close, and it would be so easy to lean in- 

“You’re going to have to let go of my hand, Dean.” Cas said, releasing his gaze and looking at the entwined arms. Dean followed his look and stepped back almost too eagerly, trying to make up for what he was thinking about a few second before. 

He laughed nervously, “I’m not good at the whole balance thing.” 

Cas didn’t answer, but he had a look on his face as if searching for something to say. 

Dean let his hand run through his hair absently. Any other time, Dean would’ve known exactly what to do. If it was any other man, he would’ve given him a cheesy pick up line that would have worked because of Dean’s seductive eyes, written his number on a napkin and spent the day thinking about something other than another relationship that would be over by the next morning. 

But Cassidy just lost time with Dean in the library, reading comics and listening to each other’s breathing. Dean showed him something out of his past, something that seemed so trivial and yet captured Cas’ attention like it was a treasure. 

Dean couldn’t help thinking that it was because it was his, that Cas wanted to share that with him because he knew it was special. And that made him nervous, nobody ever gave Dean the feeling that they wanted to know more about him than where he slept. 

“You should try yoga” Cas said finally. 

“Hmm?” Dean was still lingering in the little grayish-blue specks that danced around Cas’ pupils. 

“For balance.” 

“Oh, right. I don’t think I could live down the mocking that Sam would give me if he ever found out.” He chuckled as he led his guest to the main room. 

“Found out what?” Sam piped up from the couch where the law books made their reappearance around him. Dean shook his head. 

“Nothing, just be polite and say goodbye to your guest.” 

“Are you leaving, Cas?” Sam asked, getting up and throwing his glasses on the pile of books. 

“Yes, thank you for having me over, Sam.” 

The two men shook hands warmly and Sam told Cas something about coming over again and they could talk about the details of Cas’ work, since Sam was interested in knowing more about it. Dean was able to pull Cas away from his brother and they escaped to the hallway outside that ran along the apartments, stopping at the railing and looking out into the parking lot. 

“Do you need me to walk you to your door?” Dean asked, half joking and half hoping Cas wouldn't know that he was and say yes. 

Cas looked at Dean and gave a little nod that was barely noticeable, something that could have been mistaken for a movement of neck muscles. 

Cas started walking off down the hall, Dean hazarded going with him. They walked up another floor to apartment 34A, when Cas stops in front of the door. 

“This it?” Dean asks; Cassidy nods and smiles. 

“Thanks”

“For what?” 

“…everything.” 

Dean can’t help it; the blush just creeps up into his cheeks. He smiles and looks down at his feet, trying to think of something to say that would encompass all the things he’s felt today. 

Cassidy unlocks his door and leaves Dean in the hall, making a decision for no goodbyes and a chance to see each other again. Dean walks away smiling broader than he had in a long time.


End file.
